Tim Long, an analyst at Bank of America, wrote a couple of useful research notes today based on a conference call he hosted yesterday with Nokia VP of Multimedia Computers Jonas Geust. The Nokia exec told Long and his clients that Nokia believes the market for converged devices – phones with music, cameras, Web access and video – was 90 million units in 2006, heading to 250 million in 2008.According to Long, Geust said that about 60% of users who have MP3 players on their phone actually use them.
Perhaps the most interesting comments from Geust involved his thoughts on key features of the Apple iPhone.
- Touch screens: Geust said that Nokia has heard some positive feedback, but also noted that some people have issues with keeping them clean, and that some people dislike the fact that they are hard to use with one hand. (Which makes them hard to use while driving.)
- Bandwidth: Geust says he does not think 2.5G technology (which is what the first iPhone will use) will be fast enough. He says devices should have 3G and/or wi-fi access for a rich user experience.
- Cameras: The Nokia exec said the sweet spot will be 3-5 megapixels.
- Storage: Geust says 4GB to 8 GB of storage should be enough for music alone but that 16GB or even 32 will be needed to store music, photos and video.
I’ll be honest with you. I’m not going to buy an iPhone, but I sure as hell will make an effort to stop by an Apple store and give it a good once over.